Vostu: Facebook games with real-time multiplayer more likely to spread

It's doubtful many people have reached out to their friends saying, "Hey, you gotta play this new Facebook game with me right now." Given the asynchronous interactions between friends in most social games, that's the logic behind Brazilian social game maker Vostu's claim that social games with real-time multiplayer are more likely to draw in brand new players.

The creator of Facebook games like GolMania and MegaCity said as much to Inside Social Games (ISG), claiming that social games in which people can play together in real time make it three times more likely for players to refer said games to friends that have yet to play the games. According to ISG, Vostu used GolMania as an example, which has both single player and multiplayer.

Vostu told ISG that GolMania players that had experienced the real-time multiplayer soccer matches were three times more likely to refer friends to the game that had never played it before than those who just played its single player portions. (We'd say there's a bit of difference between "asynchronous" and "single player," no?) At any rate, the developer said that its players were far more willing to invite new friends to games with live interactions than asynchronous ones.

As a result, Vostu plans to add real-time multiplayer to as many of its games as it can, starting with a one-on-one race to the finish feature in Candy Dash as early as tomorrow. The company's next major social game will launch by the end of this month with real-time multiplayer. This news comes hot off the heels of four Android games announced by the Brazilian Zynga. Who knows, maybe this real-time multiplayer stint will be just what Vostu needs to make good on its nickname.

Do you think that Facebook games with real-time multiplayer are more worth getting your friends to play? Would you like to see more social games with real-time play between friends? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.